Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the German Shepherd Dog Forums forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Additional Options

Miscellaneous Options

Automatically parse links in text

Automatically embed media (requires automatic parsing of links in text to be on).

Automatically retrieve titles from external links

Topic Review (Newest First)

05-21-2014 07:39 PM

Gretchen

Quote:

Originally Posted by Airman1stclass

I would sure love to step on the gas for my dog. But he is only a puppy. So hopefully he'll develop more into an intense focused dog. And this is my first GSD so of course I don't know how to do develop those things. His obedience has definitely improved from the first time I brought him to Sean compared to now.

In about 5 months, we'll see if you still stick to your statement! I thought I had the perfectly trained puppy until adolescence hit. Your pup is still young, enjoy this time.
Our dog was such a handful from about 9-10 months old. Even the breeder who also did training got exasperated with her and I thought, you made her, you should know how to handle her. Anyway with consistent training, patience, love and respect it all worked out.

05-21-2014 07:18 PM

DTS

My trainer told me to pick up all the toys and only have the toys out when I am playing with him and to crate before training.
Titan can go all day long. He will play with toys and our female all day long.
I cannot physically or mentally play with him all day. I also don't have the time with my crazy work schedule. So I made a compromise... The toys stay out for my sanity. And I have 2 awesome balls that he goes absolutely bonkers for and only bring them out when we train.
He is crated on the way to training and while the other dogs train.
I also train right when I get home from work so he's been in the crate all day.
Titan is a pet first. I couldn't handle a "real" working dog.

05-21-2014 06:19 PM

Airman1stclass

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baillif

Some dogs you need to teach to step on the gas some you need to teach to pump the brakes. I found more effective ways of building a dog, but that can certainly be part of the equation.

I would sure love to step on the gas for my dog. But he is only a puppy. So hopefully he'll develop more into an intense focused dog. And this is my first GSD so of course I don't know how to do develop those things. His obedience has definitely improved from the first time I brought him to Sean compared to now.

05-20-2014 10:22 PM

Baillif

Some dogs you need to teach to step on the gas some you need to teach to pump the brakes. I found more effective ways of building a dog, but that can certainly be part of the equation.

I don't deprive my buddy of anything to get the happy focus" he just knows" when we finish training" happy time" play " play " but wait a minute he was happy working" training" humm! Play" play" serious I justake it fun" and extra special after.
Just how I do it. Bill

I think deprivation is more of a training method that certain seems to get the desired result for certain people than a "need" for the dog. I do many dog sports and in some of them, we have people that come in with an older, overweight, zero drive pet dog and want to do the sport and we are able to motivate these dogs and get them engaging and actively competing in a sport without any sort of deprivation (other than meals if the dog is fat!). If we can compete with dogs like this I see no reason why any GSD - a breed known for it's drive, energy, desire to work, focus on the handler - would *need* deprivation in order to train and perform. I know it's done quite a bit and usually I see it done with dogs that I personally don't think need it at all (often dogs that IMO have too much drive and/or are just really hyper, edgy dogs), but I tend to call it like it is. Some people like to train and manage their dogs that way, I guess it works for them.

05-20-2014 08:28 PM

Gretchen

Our 4 year old female is a large working dog, 90lbs. Since we usually had someone home with her as a puppy, she usually was not crated unless she was left alone or we needed a break and at night for a couple months. She has not been crated as an adult and has free roam of the house and the sofa. She doesn't like going on beds or sleeping with us. She has never been destructive.

When she was younger I would wake up early, do about 5-10 minutes of training in the empty DMV lot behind us, then would have her fetch a ball to burn some energy. We might do training throughout the day, but again only for 5 minutes. When we did formal training classes, I would not crate her prior to them, I'd basically keep the normal routine a 20-25 minute walk in the morning. Class was at 10 or 11am.

Now that Molly is well trained, she gets to be a junk yard dog and comes to work with me. We have an enclosed paved yard where she can hunt feral cats and watch the homeless junkies pass by our rear fence. When at home, my daughter still plays scent searching games with her, and her job is also to protect our cat from the vacuum. As your dog gets older you'll find he'll enjoy having a job, even if its carrying in some mail or a grocery item for you, carrying a toy in it's mouth on a walk, being able to have a good view to "guard", be a watchdog and places to "check", to make sure there is nothing sinister going in the closets, dark alleys or behind bushes.

05-20-2014 07:38 PM

simba405

My dogs drives really kicked in around 6 months old. Drives mature differently in different dogs. I would trust the pedigree and trainer.

This thread has more than 10 replies.
Click here to review the whole thread.